Hunting for Wabbits

Joe "Elmer Fudd" Lieberman continues to be the shame of the Democratic Party. (Though, to be fair, he has a lot of competition.)

Former Democratic vice presidential nominee Lieberman (2000 seems like a 100 years ago, eh?) is the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee (check out the committee's Web site ... in the banner picture, it looks like Elmer Fudd is backhanding Sen. Collins' um, chest ... yes, I'm immature). Lieberman has added an amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill (American Prospect) that would bar any photos of detainee abuse at the hands of American forces from jurisdiction of the Freedom of Information Act. And since it's a Homeland Security bill, Republicans will rubber-stamp it and Democrats are sure to cower ... even though Democrats are in control. My head just exploded. (And I'd be remiss if I didn't add that this is exactly what the Obama White House wants: cover from Congress for illegal activity. Cowardly.)

Jameel Jaffer, of ACLU's National Security Project, is none to happy, as the ACLU has long been the champion of transparency in revealing these photos. (Side note: It's sad this burden of fighting for government accountability has fallen to the ACLU while the mainstream media follows the cues of Fox News and the like.) Jaffer:

Congress should not give the government the authority to hide evidence of its own misconduct, and if it does grant that authority, the Secretary of Defense should not invoke it. If this shameful provision passes, Secretary Gates should take into account the importance of transparency to the democratic process, the extraordinary importance of these photos to the ongoing debate about the treatment of prisoners, and the likelihood that the suppression of these photos will ultimately be far more damaging to our national security than their disclosure would be. The last administration’s decision to endorse torture undermined the United States’ moral authority and compromised its security. The failure of the current administration to fully confront the abuses of the last administration will only compound these harms.

From endorsing John McCain in '08 to stunts like this, Joe Lieberman exemplifies the worst of the Democratic Party. Not only does he look (and sometimes sound) like Elmer Fudd, but he's adopted the ineptitude and self-delusion the cartoon character possessed. Let's hope 2012 is his last year in Washington.